Fanning-mill



(No Model.) Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. S. CONSTANT.

FANNING MILL. No. 378,772. Patented Feb. 28, 1888.

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3} Attorneys.

(No Mode-1.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. S. CONSTANT.

PANNING MILL.

Patentd Feb. 88, 1888.

WIT-WESSES g 1? %mww N. PETERS. Pholoumogmphur. Washinglun. D. c.

vA'rnnitr rrrcnt JOHN S. CONSTANT, OF WHITE PIGEON, MICHIGAN.

FANNING=MILL..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,772, dated February28, 1888.

Application filed October 8, 1886. Serial No. 215,687. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN S. CONSTANT, a citizen of the United States,residing at White Pigeon, in the county of St. Joseph and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFanning-Mills; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures ofreference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the machine. Fig.2 is a transverse section on the line w as of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailsectional view on the line y y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail detachedview of the inner part or end of one of the screens. Fig. 5 is a detailside View of the operatingdisk. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinalsection showing more fully the mechanism operating the screenshoe.

This invention relates to improvements in fanning-mills, the primeobject being to conduct the grain or seed directly from the hopper intothe air'separator, where it meets the blast just as it begins to falland is rid of light particles and impurities more thoroughly.

The invention has for its further object to 7 clean the grain by theair-blast alone,when so desired, or to cleanse it with the reciprocatingscreens in conjunction with the air-blast. The invention conslsts in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter pointed out inthe claims.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A designates the frameof the mill, of which a a are the posts.

S is the fan-casing; H, the blast-chamber leading thence, and with itsroof and floor con- The said shaft is either rotated by means of acrank-handle or has a pulley secured upon it, and is thereby run by abelt from a pulley secured to any suitable'source of power.

an are the blades or vanes of the fan. The said vanes have their outeredges in close approximation to the inner surface of the casing and havetheir inner edges secured to the shaft m for their entire length. Thevanes have their side edges cut inward toward the shaft in, so that oneachside a V-shaped notch, in", is made between opposite vanes, whichnotches are bisected by the shaft in and lie adjacent to the openings 8in the casing.

The above construction produces a more constant and equable draft andprevents countercurrents, the air escaping through the blastchamber H,in which the air is compressed as it moves toward the opening Q.

A is the hopper, having its rear wall vertical, and communicating withthe lower end of the said separator chamber G through the opening Bimmediately above the opening Q, of the blast and air-compressingchamber H, so that the blast will strike the grain just as it begins tofall from the hopper before it has acquired momentum, and willconsequently exert more force to drive out light particles andimpurities through the chamber G. The said separator'chamber slides intoplace between the claspsgg on the main frame and is re leased by thehook 18, which is pivoted on the side of the hopper and engages a stapleon the side of the air separator-chamber.

R- is a deflectorplate at the upper end of the separator-chamber, whichplate stands outward at an angle of forty-five degrees from the innerside of the separatorchamber and overhangs said opening. The lower cndof the separator chamber G curves inward, and forms, below the openingQ, the upper and outer end of the grain'delivery channel or chute2,which inclines downward and forward and discharges into any properreceptacle placed below the fan-case. The roof of said chute is formedby the door of the blastchamher.

It is an opening in the floor of the grain-chute just below its upperend, for the purpose, when desired, of delivering the grain to thescreens hereinafter described.

screen-frame.

K is a door mounted upon the shaft k, the ends of which are journaled inproper bearings in the sides of the grain-chute centrally with relationto the opening 70. WVhen said door is turned up, it closes thegrain-chute 2 and opens the upper part of the opening is, so that thegrain will be delivered to the screens over the door K. When the door isclosed, so as to open and make continuous the grainchute, the screensare cut oii' and the grain is cleaned by the air alone; but when thedoor closes the grain-chute the separation by the blast is supplementedby that of the screens.

XV is the screen shoe or framc,hung by four metal straps or hangers, 11, as shown in Fig. 2, to the casing of the mill, as shown,there beingtwo straps secured near each end of the frame, one .on each sidethereof. The ends of the straps are secured tobrace-blocks, which arebolted to the casing and to the sides of the screen-frame.

G is the upper coarse screen, and Lthe lower and finer one. The upperends of the screens rest upon any of the pins in the interior of thesides of the frame, so that the inclination of the screen can be variedat will. The upper ends of the screens are provided with hooks or otherdevices to engage said pins and prevent them from sliding down in the'frame NV. The upper coarse screen, G, discharges at its lower end outof the rear or tail of the ma chine into any proper receptacle. Thelower and finer screen, L, discharges from its lower end onto a chute,Z, made upon the floor of the All grain or particles small enough topass through the meshes of the fine screen fall through an opening, X,in the floor of the screen-frame into a receptacle, Y, securedthereunder.

16 is a screen-coveringboard seen red within the screen-frame above thescreen 0, and having a rather steeper inclination in the samedirection-that is, rearward and downward.

17 is an adjustable grading-board which enters a transverse slot in thescreen-cover 16, and may be set farther in or out. XVhen using theair-separator G either alone or in conjunction with the screens, thesaid grading-board is pulled out sufficiently to allow the chaff to bedriven over its upper edge and out of the machine, but to retain thelight grain that may be blown out of the air separating-cham her on thecoarse screen 0.

E is a chute secured in the screen-frame below and inclined similarly tothe screen 0. The said chute carries the grain falling through themeshes of the screen 0 to the rear end of the finer screen, L, whichinclines forward and downward, as shown. The grain thus passes over thewhole length of the screen L.

The mechanism for reciprocating the screenframe is as follows: Thefan-shaft on has on the extended end opposite that carrying thecrankhandle or other means of rotation a disk, M, provided with holes atat different distances from its center. D is a connecting-rod having itsupper end bent inward to engage in any one of said holes and its lowerend similarly bent to engage in one of the series of holes, m, atdifferent distances from the pivotal point at of the vibrating bar 5,pivoted upon the post a of the main frame. The said holes m are on theouter arm of the bar 5, and its inner end is pivoted to an end of theshaker-bar O, the outer end of which is pivoted to the side of thescreen frame or shoe.

As the fan and fan-shaft are rotated the disk M rotates therewith andmoves the screenframe twice backward and twice forward with eachrotation, so that it has two double reciprocations for each rotation ofthe disk. This gives the screen-frame \Va very rapid reciprocativemovement, and one that is much more effective than a slower movement.lVhen the link D, connecting the disk M with the bar 5, has itsconnection with the disk horizontally outward from the center of thelatter, the conmeeting-rods 5 and 0 hold the screen-frame at thefarthest point from the fan-case. \Vhen said connection is verticallyeither above or below said center, the screen-frame is consequentl ydrawn in toward the fan-case. Therefore the screen-frame mustreciprocate back and forth .twice to each rotation of the disk. Thegrain can be thus cleaned by the air-separator alone by moving the doorK to cut off the screens, as described, or by the separator and screensin conjunction.

When chaifing or cleaning coarse heavy materia1such as trampled-outgrain or seed the air-separator G is detached and the chaff andimpurities driven by the blast over the board 16 out of the machine.

The parts are so arranged in relation to each other that when theattachment of the rod D with said disk is on either side of the centerof the shaft m the rod 0 is at the end of its forward reciprocation, sothat the said rod 0 reciprocates twice in each direction for everyrotation of the disk M.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. The combination of the hopper, the fan, the fan-casing, theblast-chamber running upward from the lower part of the fan-casing to apoint immediately below the outer and lower corner of the hopper, thedetachable separatortrunk having a vertical portion, an opening belowsaid portion opposite the dischargeopening from the hopper, and adischargeopening opposite said opening that receives from the hopper,and the adjustable door K, to regulate and direct the discharge from theseparator, substantially as specified 2. The combination of the fan, thefan-case receiving the draft through openings in its ends, theblast-chamber communicating with the fan-case, the detachableseparator-case, the hopper having its discharge-opening vertically abovethe junction of the separatorcase and the blast-chamber, and the pivoteddoor K, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the fan, the fan-cas IIO ing, the blast-chamberrunning upward from the lower part of the fan-casing and with its topand bottom converging upward, the hop per having a discharge-openinginto the upper 5 end of the blast-chamber, the grain-discharge passagesbelow the blast-chamber, the screens inclined oppositely to saidpassages and rearward therefrom, and the door pivoted in such positionthat it can be turned to direct the 10 grain from the hopper either intosaid discharge-passage or on the said screens, substantia11y asspecified.

4. The combination of the fan, the fan-case,

JOHN S. CONSTANT.

Witnesses:

JOHN DRIESBAOII, DAVID L. WHITE.

